St Mirren Manager Faces Hearing Over Referee Remarks
St Mirren manager Craig McLeish is set to face a hearing over his comments about referee Sean Murdoch after the team's 1-0 defeat by Dunfermline Athletic in the Premier Sports Cup on Sunday.
Speaking on Premier Sports afterwards, McLeish questioned decisions by the match officials and asked who referee Sean Murdoch played for. The 39-year-old had two spells as a goalkeeper with Dunfermline before becoming an official.
McLeish has now been called to a hearing on Thursday, 27 August to hear a notice of complaint over "Disciplinary Rule 72". That rule says no club official should criticise a match official "in such a way as to indicate bias or incompetence" or make comments "which impinge on his character".
St Mirren still won their group, with Dunfermline progressing as runners-up, but the defeat meant they were not seeded for the last-16 and were drawn away to Rangers.
League standing (final 2025 table -- new season not yet under way): 10th in Premiership, 30 pts, 7W-9D-17L from 33 games, recent form WDDWL.
Goals this season: 27 scored, 48 conceded (-21 goal difference).
Title race: 40 points behind leaders Heart Of Midlothian.
Next fixture: vs Dundee (away, 2026-12-26) (9th in the table).
St Mirren say they "will fully assess the notice before determining our next steps" but "will make no further comment at this time". The St Mirren Mercury has reported that McLeish insisted his televised remark regarding Murdoch was a "tongue-in-cheek".
